After American Idol

Mary Jo Young bounces back with a quick post-Idol EP

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Mary Jo Young from American Idol Season 19

Mary Jo Young from American Idol Season 19 (ABC Photo)

Talk about striking while the iron is hot.

When Sunday’s pre-taped episode of American Idol aired, Mary Jo Young fans found out she did not make the Top 16.

But Mary Jo found a way to get them Idol music anyway.

On Monday, she dropped a three-song cover EP of songs she was prepared to sing on the show.

They include “The Joke” by Brandi Carlile, “Ho Hey” by The Lumineers and “Hopelessly Devoted” by Olivia Newton John.

Kudos to Mary Jo for releasing music so quickly.

And kudos to American Idol for allowing her to do it.

I recall the early days of Idol, when contestants’ musical past were closely guarded secrets and releasing music right after leaving the show was strictly prohibited.

With all the social media footprints, the former would be impossible in this day and age.

But the show could still put restrictions on when contestant can release music if it wanted.

For those unaware, Mary Jo also has four original singles out — “This Town,” “Young & Sad” and “You Broke Me First” from 2020 and “Carpet,” released back in March, after her audition aired.

“Carpet” is so good, I’m embedding a snippet below.

You might say Mary Jo, 19, from Cleveland, Ohio, leaves Idol with a pretty sizable fan base, including more than 346,000 followers on TikTok.